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November 12, 2025
Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative, Inc. is a grower-owned cooperative in Grand Rapids. The cooperative was founded in 1998 by 15 growers who were looking for a way to bring their birds to market locally.
Historically, most Michigan turkey farmers sent their birds to Bil-Mar Foods in Zeeland for processing, but their decision to no longer use their facility to slaughter turkeys left Michigan turkey farmers with few profitable processing options. The growers purchased a vacant potato plant and, in March of 2000, harvested the first turkeys as the Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative, Inc.
Today, the cooperative harvests 5.3 million heavy toms each year – all grown on 53 West Michigan family farms located across Allegan, Barry, Gratiot, Kent, Mecosta, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, Oceana and Ottawa counties. In 2006, the cooperative purchased another facility to build a ready-to-eat (cooked) product plant which produced 3.2 million pounds of product in the first year. By 2023, the cooked product plant had increased production to 61 million pounds.
In 2024, the cooperative was reaching capacity and looking for ways to keep up with demand and internal growth. They reached out to MDARD’s Economic and Community Development Specialist for West and Northwest Michigan, Jodi Gruner, who helped them to understand through collaboration, technical assistance and strategic planning how they could receive a Food and Agriculture Investment Program (FAIP) grant from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD). The funding helped the cooperative increase their freezer and cooler space to improve efficiency, capacity and safety within their workplace. Prior to receiving this support, the cooperative’s racking system for storing frozen and refrigerated products was cumbersome and their blast freezer was too small and inefficient for the amount of product they were freezing. They also lacked enough space to stage their products for shipment, causing strain on their associates and delivery drivers. Expanding their space enabled the cooperative to decrease the stress on their employees and ensure a work life balance that was beneficial to retention while not sacrificing efficiency. Today, cooperative has a workspace that fits their needs for production and allows them to process and ship their products efficiently.
“Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative, Inc. is very grateful to the MDARD Food and Agriculture Investment Fund for the grant that was extended to us,” said Tina Conklin, Vice President of Technical Services for the Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative, Inc. “Without MDARD’s continued support of agriculture and our cooperative, we would not be where we are today.”
Moving forward, the Michigan Turkey Cooperative, Inc. and the growers will focus on industry-wide bird health and continuing the expansion of their cold storage space. As they grow, the cooperative will continue to seek help and support from MDARD.
For more information, visit the Michigan Turkey Producers Cooperative, Inc. website.
If you are a Michigan agriculture, food and beverage, or forestry producer and are ready to take the next step – whether it’s expanding your operations, increasing production or bringing new products to market – our economic and community development team is here to help. Visit MDARD - Economic & Community Development to meet, or contact, our team and to learn how we can grow Michigan together.
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